


All The Times I Should've Told You

by DeerWorks



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII (Video Game 1997), Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020), Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children
Genre: Because Cloud is kind of stupid when it comes to emotions, Drama, Except way more than five times, F/M, Family, Fluff, Friendship, Gonna edit these tags as I go along cuz I suck at tagging, Hurt/Comfort, Kind of a 5+1 times, Kind of is a bit of an understatement, One Shot Collection, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-26
Updated: 2020-12-02
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:42:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,671
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27215116
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DeerWorks/pseuds/DeerWorks
Summary: My one-shot collection of Cloti throughout the Final Fantasy VII timeline. This is in no order it's gonna be all over the place and I might sometimes make references to previous chapters but for the most part these won't all be connected.
Relationships: Tifa Lockhart/Cloud Strife
Comments: 5
Kudos: 46





	1. Soldier Boy

Cloud doesn’t quite remember what happened after the attack, he remembers shooting whatever it was. Falling to the ground, Tifa over top of him, shaking him to see if he was okay. There was a bit of blood, mostly bruises but he’d probably be fine.

But after he’d stopped whatever had tried to hurt her he was finished, fading in and out of consciousness as they carried him back to the village. If Zack was there it would have been over with one swing of the sword, some of the other infantrymen probably would’ve been just fine on their own too. Hell, Tifa probably would’ve done a better job with the amount of training she’s received. Not him. He was _weak._

Who was he kidding when he decided to leave and join SOLDIER, who was he kidding when he said he was going to become First Class and fight alongside Sephiroth.

He was nothing but a faceless infantryman, too weak for First Class, too weak for SOLDIER, too weak for _her._

He wasn’t moving from this bed even if Zack dragged him out or threatened to cut his head off even though he probably wouldn’t do it.

He wasn’t moving from this bed even if the village was burning all around him.

He thought of Tifa. How would she have reacted if she knew it was him.

She was too kind to say it to his face but he knew she’d be disappointed seeing him, seeing that he couldn’t keep his promise.

He never should’ve agreed to that promise that night but looking back, even if he wanted to he probably wouldn’t have been able to say no. Because to him that promise meant she wanted to see him again one day, that when he left she wouldn’t just forget about him. But to her it probably meant she’d see him again as a SOLDIER, not as this.

It took everything in him not to just give up and let her see his face, show her that he failed and just end his suffering. He tried to let the situation play out in his head, tried to prepare for every possible reaction. But when he tried to imagine her disappointed or even disgusted he couldn’t do it because that just wasn’t her. She couldn’t be disgusted by anyone, she couldn’t hate anyone. It wasn’t in her to hate, or maybe he’d just yet to see that side of her.

A little voice in the back of his head tried to tell him to just go and see her, that she’d probably just be happy to see him alive and well. Luckily he found that voice and shot it in the face.

He heard some talking outside his open window, it sounded like Tifa and Zack. He couldn’t make out what they were saying and he wasn’t really that interested, well he was but he chose to pretend he wasn’t.

Instead he chose to close his eyes, cross his arms and continue thinking about saying hi to Tifa and ultimately circling back around to deciding not to.

Eventually the talking outside his window ended and he figured he should probably be getting sleep to rest up on his injuries.

Well that was his plan before he heard knocking at his door.

“Cloud? Buddy? You awake?” It was Zack, his voice muffled by the wooden door.

Cloud chose to stay quiet, hoping Zack would lose interest and leave. He was stupid for thinking that because of course he didn’t.

“Yeah, you’re awake,” he said, swinging the door open and striding in.

Cloud grumbled, turning over on his side and facing the wall.

He heard Zack move to the other end of the room and grab a chair, placing it beside his bed and plopping down onto it.

“What’s got you down buddy?”

“Nothing,” he muttered.

“That wasn’t very convincing.”

Cloud sighs, rolling onto his back and turning his attention to the ceiling. Zack was quiet, sitting in his chair backwards probably waiting for him to say something but eventually realizing that that wasn’t happening.

“Don’t wanna talk about it?” He asked to which Cloud responds with silence. “Guess not.” Another awkward silence. “Sephiroth locked himself away in the basement.”

“What happened?” Cloud asked.

“Dunno, something up in the reactor spooked him or confused him or something. I’ll go check on him if he’s stuck in there for too long.”

“Okay,” Cloud said before the room got quiet again. For all his energy and charisma it seemed Zack couldn’t carry a conversation when Cloud was in a pissy mood.

Zack got quiet for a second, he was probably trying to just let Cloud lay there quietly like he wanted to but Cloud could already tell that he wanted to say something judging by the way his leg was bouncing up and down.

Sighing, he relented. “What is it?” He asked.

“Tifa wants to see you,” he said immediately.

“No,” Cloud responds immediately as well.

“Cloud,” he groans, leaning back and looking at the ceiling. “She just wants to see if you’re doing okay.”

“Tell her no.”

“Ugh,” Zack slumped forward in his chair, crossing his arms and leaning his forehead. “Why is this so difficult for you?”

“You know why,” Cloud responded, deciding to sit up and lean against the headboard. “I’m not a-”

“You’re not a SOLDIER, yeah, yeah. Cloud, you know getting into SOLDIER isn’t a walk in the park, I had to work hard for it, you can’t expect it to just happen like that.”  
  


“I know but… I swore to everyone I’d be a First Class SOLDIER when I returned and now I’m back home and I’m not even third. Just an infantryman.

“You think she’ll be disappointed?” He asked, even though it was more of a statement. Cloud averted his gaze which told Zack all he needed to know.

And he laughed. _Asshole._ “Are you kidding?” Zack laughed, to which Cloud frowned. “She asks me about a blonde SOLDIER with spiky hair every chance she gets!”

“Really?” Cloud asked, he tried hiding the excitement he felt at hearing that but failed miserably.

“Yup,” Zack said, his laughter dying down. “Cloud, buddy. I can tell she misses you, could you please let her see you.”

He was _almost_ ready to agree to see her. _Almost._ But there was one thing about what he said that bugged him.

“You said blonde SOLDIER?”

“Uh, yeah. Why?”

“SOLDIER.”

“Oh Ifrit,” Zack groaned, hanging his head. “There’s no winning with you, is there?”

Cloud laid back down, looking at the ceiling again. He wanted to see Tifa, desperately. But he couldn’t stop thinking about those expectations he placed in her head and how she’d react when she realizes he didn’t meet those expectations.

“Okay, fine.” Zack sighed. “Get some sleep, I’m gonna sit over here ‘cause I gotta watch over you.”

“Fine,” Cloud said quietly, settling in ‘cause he was pretty tired. He heard Zack turn on the radio, a bit of noise always helped Cloud sleep easier and he silently thanked Zack for remembering that.

Some song Cloud had never heard before started playing, starting with piano. He heard Zack snort from the other side of the room, like he recognized the song.

“What?” Cloud asked, turning his head to peak at Zack sitting in the corner, some random book in his lap.

“Nothing,” Zack replied in a voice that told him it definitely wasn’t nothing.

Cloud ignored it, instead choosing to close his eyes and listen to the lyrics and try to drift off to sleep.

_Soldier boy why feel blue_

_Don't you believe that she will be true_

_It's written in the book_

_That she was meant for only you_

Cloud’s eyes shot open.

_Are you fucking kidding me._ He thought.

“Turn it off,” he growled.

“Nope,” Zack chuckled.

_Soldier boy tell me why do you cry_

_When you return she'll rush to your side_

_It's written in the book_

_That she was meant for only you_

“This isn’t funny.”

“I disagree.”

_While you're gone oh try to believe_

_Her love for you is really for real_

_It's written in the book_

_That she was meant for only you_

He’d only heard three verses of this song and he already hated it. It didn’t sound bad, the singer was pretty good actually. The problem was he was singing about all the things Cloud wanted, all the things he hoped for, and all the things that weren’t true.

“I’ll turn it off if you promise to talk to her,” Zack suggested.

“Fine,” Cloud relented, figuratively crossing his fingers.

“I’ll drag you out and force you to if you don’t do it yourself.”

“Okay,” he grumbled.

Zack finally changed the channel to a different station, some other song he’d never heard of but it didn’t matter.

_Guess I’m talking to Tifa._

Is what he thought. Unfortunately, faith had other plans. Faith steered them in a different direction before he had the chance.

____________________________

  
  


He swirled the drink in his hand, staring at it before taking another sip. Helping out around the slums wasn’t too bad, it would be worse if Tifa wasn’t by his side helping him out. 

The drink was red, reminded him of her eyes. He told her that in his own way, he hopes she got what he was trying to say. He was at the dart board now, crushing Wedge’s record on the first try. Part of him felt bad about it, the other part of him smirked as he wrote it down on the page. If Wedge didn’t believe him he’d be happy to do it again.

He wandered around the bar, examining it. He could hear muffled talking coming from below the arcade machine and chose to stay upstairs. He went behind the counter, checking under it to see where they kept the good stuff.

Apparently everyone had their own drink, each labelled with their names on it. _For Barrett, for Jessie, for Tifa._

He didn’t have one, he shouldn’t expect to have one. It’s not like he was sticking around. Right?

No, of course not.

He moved over to the jukebox, it was playing some jazz tune. He’d always sounded nice, something about the tune made him feel like he was coming home. But he figured he could check out what other records they had. He flipped through some of them. The Midgar Blues, Tango of Tears, Hip Hop de Chocobo. He’d heard all of them, they were decent. Finally he arrived at the last option.

“Soldier Boy,” he read aloud. Without warning his ears started to ring and he was hit with a headache, not quite as piercing as some of the ones he’d had earlier that day but it certainly didn’t feel good. The headache eventually subsided and he was able to turn his attention back to the disc in his hands. He doesn’t think he’s heard this song before so he might as well pop it in.

_Soldier boy why feel blue_

_Don't you believe that she will be true_

_It's written in the book_

_That she was meant for only you_

He heads back to the bar as the first part of the song begins. He listens to the lyrics, something about the song felt familiar. It felt familiar in a good way. Something about the song makes him smile as he brings the drink back up to his lips.

He doesn’t know where he would’ve heard it before but something about it made him feel warm inside, made the constant storm of static and screams in his head halt for a second. He smiled.

“Nice song,” he muttered to the empty bar.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I reheard this song when Jensen Ackles revealed he was gonna be in season 3 of The Boys and it reminded me of Cloud and Tifa. I'm gonna use these one-shots to improve my writing because god knows I need to and also to take a break and write something else while writing my other story What's Left of Us (which is from The Last of Us fandom. If any of you guys are reading that for some reason chapter 10 is like halfway done.


	2. Don't Touch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cloud does not like the way some of Tifa's customers treat her. Especially this guy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like everyone writes about Tifa's customers being assholes and Cloud being mad about it at some point so I might as well write about it too.

Of all the careers he imagined for Tifa Lockhart a bartender wasn’t one of them.

He thought she could’ve been a teacher maybe, like a martial arts instructor. Or maybe work in a hospital, or maybe be a therapist?

Bartender was not a job that came to mind. But she was good at it. Her bar was nice, her drinks were amazing, her patrons pissed him off. Some were nice, simply there to grab a drink after a long day or just enjoyed talking to Tifa because who wouldn’t. A lot of them were assholes who were strictly there to leer at her and not treat her like she deserved.

He wanted to kill all of them every time one of them so much as looked at her the wrong way but he was willing to pack it in. 

However, the other night a certain patrons comments said behind Tifa’s back caused Cloud to lose it. Grabbing and throwing the man to the ground and dragging him outside to throw him into the dirt.

“I better not see you around here again,” Cloud growled.

This dumbass looked like he was ready to get up and fight but all Cloud had to do was flash his mako green eyes and the man quickly changed his mind and ran off.

When he returned, Tifa was pretty annoyed. Not angry or even pissed but annoyed. He could never imagine Tifa angry or pissed, it was just one of those things that didn’t seem possible. She was far too kind to be associated with those emotions.

“Cloud! What’re you doing!” She scolded.

Even still this wasn’t the reaction he expected.

“Wh- I wasn’t just gonna let him talk about you like that.”

Her face softened a little bit before she shook her head and tried to frown, as if she was reminding herself she’s supposed to be mad at him.

“Cloud, you can’t throw out everyone who does that or you’ll scare away most of our patrons.”

“Most of them?” He questioned. “You mean that’s typical behaviour?”

“I run a bar, Cloud. In the slums no less. You’ve just gotta learn to deal with it like I do.”

“You shouldn’t have to,” Cloud said immediately.

“I know,” she said softly, smiling slightly as she seemingly completely forgot about trying to seem mad. “There’s a lot we shouldn’t have to deal with but you get used to it. Trust me.”

Cloud looked to the ground, scowling at it like it just killed his dog. Tifa deserved better than that.

“How about I get you another drink,” Tifa suggested, bending down to look into his eyes.

“Sure,” he grumbled. On his walk back to the bar he noticed people were pretty silent now, absolutely nobody dared to look in Tifa’s direction as long as he was there. He smirked a little at that.

He took a seat at the bar as Tifa grabbed some drinks to make the Cosmo Canyon which she had quickly learned was his favourite.

“So what do you do if people touch you?” He asked, hoping she didn’t just put up with _everything._

“Usually grab their wrist and apply a little pressure. Not enough to break it but enough to let em’ know not to try it again,” she explained. As she poured him his drink and slid it over to him.

“What about fights?” He asked, bringing the glass up to his lips.

“Barrett usually handles those,” she said, leaning over the bar.

“Hm,” he took a sip from the drink.

“Good?” She asked.

“Perfect,” he threw his head back and finished the rest of it.

“So will you let me handle things from now on? I know what I’m doing.”

He frowned down at his empty glass, contemplating it before nodding in agreement.

_I can let her handle things. It’ll be easy._

____________________________

  
  


_So that was a fucking lie._

It would’ve been easy if this asshole wasn’t here.

Guy was a dirty blonde, hair slicked back and with shitty, patchy stubble. _Fuck this guy._

“You got any tattoos sweetheart?” The prick asked.

“Nope,” Tifa answered. She clearly didn’t like this guy either.

“I bet you do, how about you show em’ to me sometime?”

_What the fuck? Did he expect that shit to work?_

“Trust me no tattoos. What’ll you have?” Tifa asked, trying her best to stay friendly. He was amazed that she didn’t just snap and sock this guy in the jaw right her and now.

“Just a beer and something for you. Have a drink with me.”

This guy is either really drunk or really stupid, probably both.

“I don’t drink when I’m working,” she said, grabbing a beer off the shelf and placing it in front of him.

Guy wasn’t taking no for an answer, grabbing Tifa’s wrist. “C’mon, at least give me a name. I’m Darcy.”

_The fuck kind of name is Darcy?_

“Darcy, let go,” she said, getting ready to twist his wrist.

He promised he’d let her handle this but he couldn’t just sit there now without doing anything.

_Just don’t cut his head off, don’t cut his head off, don’t cut his head off._

He tapped on the bar’s wooden surface to get the prick’s attention. “Hey,” he said, the prick turned his eyes to look at Cloud. “She’s gotta work. She can’t pour drinks if you’re holding onto her arm like that,” he said, but the guy was still scowling at Cloud and not letting go. “Let go,” Cloud commanded, flashing his eyes for good measure since he left his sword back in Stargazer Heights.

The guy didn’t seem to get the message but let go. He looked at Tifa who looked thankful for him intervening this time, giving him a small smile. “You okay?” He asked.

“Yeah,” she smiled.

Darcy scoffed, getting up from his spot at the bar and walking over to Cloud. “You don’t scare me,” he said, shoving Cloud on the shoulder and spilling some of his drink.

_You gotta be shitting me._

He shoved Cloud’s shoulder again. “Bitch,” he muttered.

_Don’t try it again I swear to-_

Tifa looked ready to murder him but Cloud quickly grabbed the guy’s wrist and twisted it at an awkward angle. “Get outta here,” he growled, shoving him back as Darcy held his wrist and groaned in pain. However instead of listening to Cloud he grabbed a bottle, smashing it and looked ready to swing it at Cloud.

“Bad idea,” Cloud sighed, getting up. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Barrett getting up to throw this guy out.

The guy was about to go for a swing, all Cloud would have to do is take a step back and-

Out of nowhere the guy’s head was slammed so hard into the bar he swore his skull probably cracked. But Barrett was only half way to the bar meaning it wasn’t him. Cloud turned to see that Tifa was the one who’d slammed him, looking at him with unbridled rage.

“No,” she growled and he doesn’t think he’d ever seen a man so terrified. Tifa took him and dragged him out of the bar, throwing him out into the street just like he had done with someone else a few nights ago.

She was _pissed._

An emotion he didn’t associate with her.

Everyone in the bar was silent and nobody moved from their seat, Barrett stayed glued to his spot in the middle of the bar and looked at Tifa shocked. Same for Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie from their table in the corner.

Tifa took a deep breath to calm herself and Cloud made sure not to move a muscle so as to not risk her anger being redirected at him.

“Biggs, I need a break. Mind taking over?” She asked, without looking at anyone.

“Uh- I-” he stuttered. “Sure.”

He got up, heading behind the bar as Tifa went to the back room to cool off.

“That was weird,” Biggs said, fumbling around to get drinks as new customers strolled in, completely oblivious to what had just transpired.

“What is?” Cloud asked.

“She never gets that pissed.”

Cloud looked to the backroom and considered heading back there to see what got her so angry. It’s not like he was gonna get hurt, he could’ve handled that guy easily.

“Dunno.”

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you know what show this one-shot is inspired by you're a legend.


	3. Wrong

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cloud can't sleep in his unfamiliar hometown so he finds himself visiting a certain part of the town to try and clear his head.

It was all… _wrong._

He was lying in one of the beds in the inn.

That bed was in one of the rooms in the inn.

The inn was in a town that burned down five years ago.

And yet it was here, exactly the way he remembered it before Sephiroth destroyed everything and it’s all _wrong._

The people here acted as if none of this ever happened. As if all of his pain meant nothing and was just another story parents would tell their kids to help them drift off to sleep.

_They acted as if her pain meant nothing._

Tifa tried to stay composed throughout the day, tried to not show her emotions but he could tell that she was the furthest thing from okay.

Everytime he looked her way he saw her on the verge of breaking and screaming and punching something or crying. Because they both knew that this was all _wrong._

His old house was home to someone unfamiliar, it didn’t smell like his mom’s cooking, the door didn't even creak the same way. It was all completely _wrong._

He sighed, screw sleep. There wasn’t a chance in Gaia that he was gonna be getting any sleep tonight in this unfamiliar town. He got up out of bed, careful not to wake Barrett and Nanaki who he was sharing his room with.

He needed a walk, he needed to find something that was _right._ That felt familiar. Something that hasn’t changed even though it may seem the same.

The second he went outside he scanned the area. The people were asleep, the doors were locked. He could walk around in peace without feeling eyes on him at all times.

He closed his eyes, tuning everything out and taking a deep breath. When he opened them he was met with the view of the water tower.

_Their_ water tower.

Except it wasn’t theirs anymore, that tower burned down with the rest of the village five years ago. This was a stand-in, an imposter. It wasn’t the same. It was _wrong._

Even still, that spot held memories, memories he knew which was something he’d been struggling with lately and yet he didn’t know why.

He made his way to the tower, it felt the same when he scaled it but he knew it was _wrong._

He sat down, setting his Buster Sword beside him and staring up at the beautiful night sky. A beautiful sky that you couldn’t see in Midgar because of all the pollution.

He sighed, he missed this sky.

He heard another sigh, another person on the water tower. Typically he would’ve been alarmed but he’d learnt to recognize when she was nearby now. He just knew.

He moved to where he’d heard the sigh come from and saw her sitting, legs crossed, one hand in her lap and the other placed flat on the wooden surface so she could sit up. She was staring at the sky with a look of melancholy.

“Tifa?”

She didn’t jump or seem startled at all, in fact she seemed to relax slightly when she heard his voice.

“Sorry. Did I wake you again?” She asked, turning to face him with those beautiful red eyes.

“No.” He walked forward, sitting down on the wood surface and dangling both his feet over the ledge. “I couldn’t sleep.”

“Me neither,” she said. It seemed they were both having a rough night.

They both went quiet. Cloud tried coming up with something to say but they both knew why they couldn’t sleep, what being in this familiar town that felt so unfamiliar was doing to both of them. There was no need to address it but he felt like he should, he just didn’t know how.

“The flowers in front of your house are wrong,” she said, breaking the silence.

He turned his attention to her. From where they were sitting they couldn’t see his old home but the last thing he’d noticed today was the garden.

“It’s spring,” she continued. “There should be red and yellow tulips.”

He was shocked she even remembered that. He didn’t remember what flowers used to be in his mom’s garden, he remembered helping sometimes and sneaking glances at Tifa whenever she was out on her front porch when he was positive neither his mom nor Tifa were looking his way.

“Everything almost feels familiar except there’s something wrong with everything here.”

He doesn’t know what to say, doesn’t know how to comfort her. He’d tried in Aerith’s garden, tried holding her like he thought he was supposed to but he’d ended up hurting her in the end. He looked at her hand, still resting on the surface of the well. He squeezed his hand into a fist, contemplated it, before shaking his head and deciding against it.

He looked up at the stars again as if they knew what he should do.

“At least one thing hasn’t changed,” he found himself saying before he could even think about it. He saw her turn her head to look at him out of the corner of his eye. He turned to meet her gaze. “The stars.”

She turned to look up at the sky and that made her smile a bit. He counted that as a small victory. Everytime she smiled he counted it as a small victory.

“Yeah, they’re still just as beautiful.”

“Yeah… beautiful.” Only he wasn’t gazing at the stars like she was.

There was a beautiful night sky above him that most people would kill for a glimpse of and he was getting lost in the details of her face.

She’d noticed him staring eventually and turned to meet his eyes, they were blue right now. Most of the time they were when she was looking at him. Before he could think he’d closed those eyes and his head started moving forward.

Since his eyes were closed he didn’t see Tifa’s eyes widen to the size of saucers but he did hear the slight hitch of her breath.

He simply leaned his forehead against hers and let out a shaky breath. He didn’t know if this was helping but for him it felt good. And if the hand Tifa had lightly placed on his forearm was any indication he’d say it might be helping her too.

Everything about this false Nibelheim might feel _wrong_ . His home was _wrong_ as was Tifa’s. The inn was _wrong_ and their well was _wrong._

But as always, something about Tifa Lockhart just felt _right._


	4. Hero

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Short but sweet.

“Cloud?” She grunted, the bruises on her arms made her want to scream in pain with every movement but he needed to get up.

“Cloud, get up,” she said weekly. He looked even worse than her if that was even possible. They were separated from the rest of the party, there were too many monsters and more on the way, and worst of all Cloud was out of it. Not dead, but not getting up for a while.

But they’d both be dead if he didn’t get up because she couldn’t handle these monsters all by herself.

“Cloud, please get up,” she pleaded.

All she received was a weak grunt in response.

There was a roar from behind her and she turned her head to one of the many diverging tunnels but she couldn’t discern where it could’ve come from.

She looked behind her at Cloud’s unmoving form.

He’d definitely tell her to run, to leave him and that he could handle it.

To her it wasn’t even an option.

She just needed to hold off whatever was coming their way until the rest of the party could find them.

Tifa readied her stance, her legs were shaky and her arms were weak but as long as Cloud couldn’t defend himself she would make sure not a single monster would so much as touch him

He’d promised to be her hero. Now it was her turn to be his.


End file.
